CAF and AFD enhance synergies in climate action and co-financing
September 29, 2022
With the aim of deepening development cooperation and knowledge of their respective strategies even further, delegations from CAF—development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean—and the AFD Group, represented by the French Development Agency (AFD) and PROPARCO, held their annual workshop on September 26–27, 2022, in Bogotá, Colombia.
The meeting featured CAF’s local representatives and teams on important topics such as climate change, urban transport, and water and sanitation. One highlight was the AFD-CAF relationship’s future joint evaluation approach and an agreement to facilitate co-financing management. Given the scope of the AFD Group, the workshop also included a session that addressed the private sector vision for both organizations.
The AFD delegation was led by Marie-Pierre Bourzai, director for Latin America and was attended by directors for the Andean region, Brazil and the Southern Cone, along with Mexico, Cuba and Central America. PROPARCO’s participation was represented by Johann Choux, Andean Region Director.
The meeting allowed the CAF and AFD delegations to hold very detailed exchanges about the common agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, with a view to maximizing impact for their joint interventions, with special emphasis on the fight against climate change. This alliance is reinforced in the context of CAF’s ambition to become the green bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Marie-Pierre Bourzai, AFD's Director for Latin America, noted that since 2009, CAF and AFD have strengthened both institutions’ actions for sustainable development, regional integration and the protection of global public goods. With financial cooperation of around 710 million euros in credit lines granted to CAF by AFD and almost 10 million euros in grants, our teams work and will continue to work to identify co-financing opportunities in each of our countries for common interventions.
Gabriel Felpeto, Vice President of Finance and Gloria Gamero, Director of the Institutional Financial Resources Directorate, commented on CAF’s recent achievements, including the approval of a USD 7 billion equity increase, accession of new full members and credit rating upgrades by rating agencies. This is all part of CAF’s commitment to the fight against climate change and to economic recovery.
The institutions thereby reiterated their commitment to the climate change and sustainable development agenda, their ambition to promote co-financing and maintain collaboration through financing, technical cooperation and knowledge exchange.